Transport

At Bonduelle, the transport of vegetables to industrial sites and finished goods to points of sale is central to the Group's activity. This is why we are engaged in numerous projects to optimise transport flow and reduce the impact on the environment, particularly in terms of greenhouse gas.

What organisation does Bonduelle rely on to put its transport strategy into action?

«We rely on a Transport Monitoring and Sustainable Development Committee made up of international representatives from sales departments and factory Logistics bodies, members of the Supply Chain department and the central purchasing office, and sustainable development managers.»

What are this Committee's tasks?

« Monitoring the legal developments in the sector, the progress of the French Grenelle Environment forum, and the search for sustainable solutions to minimise the environmental impact of transport flows. »

How do you limit your environmental impact in terms of transport?

«We situate our factories near to agricultural production areas. These locations are also selected both according to the land and climate of the regions, and for their proximity to consumer areas. This precaution helps limit the number of kilometres our products need to travel and promotes the development of local economies.»

What actions are conducted in terms of storage?

«We constantly aim to optimise the transport not just of our products but of all our supplies. For example, we do this through the use of large storage infrastructures. Our logistics sites are also organised by geographical area, and are responsible for the referencing of transport companies so that the must suitable options are chosen.»

Do you limit your CO2 emissions?

«Yes. In 2008 we launched a programme in this respect within our can activity, in order to identify the scope of improvement and the levers for action in reducing the level of greenhouse gas emissions. Launched in France, this programme has spread to other European countries supplied with finished goods ready for customer delivery. It has enabled us to assess the progress made through the deployment of rail-road transport. In 2011-2012, we extended the measures to our other subsidiaries specialising in frozen, fresh and prepared goods, and in the same period the rail-road transport solution was strengthened. In 2014-2015, 5,838 tonnes of CO² were saved thanks to rail-road and maritime transport."

FOCUS ON TWO CONCRETE ACTIONS: PRESENTATION OF 2 LEVERS FOR PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

A high-bay cold store with a low environmental impact In February 2012, Bonduelle opened the Group's largest cold store in the Somme (Estrées). This high, 35-metre facility is intended for the storage, order preparation and shipping of frozen finished goods. It can hold 23,000 palettes, and it has allowed the group to reduce transport to external storage sites by 1800 lorries per year, which translates as 800T of CO2 equivalents.

Geolocation of plots for optimum harvest organisation Since 2012, the geo-referencing of plots optimises Bonduelle's capacity to assign crops to soils with increasingly greater precision, to define good practices, and to better organise the associated transport methods. As a reminder, this system is used to store strategic data (varieties, planting dates, yield, etc.) and develop an agronomic memory of the cultivated areas.

Results and perspectives

Overall savings of 5,838 tonnes of CO2 from rail transport

Continue to save 5,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from transport

In 2012-2013 Bonduelle continues to develop transport indicators in its subsidiaries across the world (except Canada) The group continues to promote the rail-road network as well as the sharing) of pilot actions in the field. In the same vein, the Group continues to work towards more downstream transport pooling with other manufacturers. This involves optimising logistics tools and prioritising alternatives to road transport.